Tax Value Rates Have Increased

The numbers are in for Brazos County tax values, and the rates have increased.

Leah Rush has lived in the Bryan neighborhood for more than 40 years and this is the first year she wasn't able to protest her property value.

"I plan to do another protest if or when my taxes are increased again, because when that happens I probably won't be a homeowner anymore," says Rush.

More than 3,000 property owners filed with the Brazos County Appraisal District, and only a fraction of those went before the appraisal review board.

"Ultimately it affects the amount of tax dollars they pay. There's two parts to the taxing process, one is value side and one is tax rate side, either one or both of those will affect tax liability in the end," says Deputy Chief Appraiser, Danny Singletary.

If your value goes up on a property you've had for three or four years, and the tax rate stays the same, ultimately, you're paying more taxes.

Now that all values are locked in, each taxing entity can set their tax rate. While all of them increased in property values, the city of Bryan was the lowest with 6.7 percent more over last year.

Kathy Davidson is the Chief Financial Officer for the city. She says once the effective tax rates are calculated, they hope to stick to their same rate from last year.

"So from the tax rate perspective that should not have an impact on citizens. Property owners that may have had an increase in assessed evaluation if they have, that's where they will see an increase in their tax bill," says Davidson.

The numbers create a balancing act for city hall when it's time to set the tax rate. The certified values estimates how much money they can generate for this upcoming year.

"This would be an opportunity for the citizenry to come forward at this rate hearing and they could be informed as to what tax rate that the particular jurisdictions plans to adopt and how it may impact them," says Singletary.

Public hearings should begin as early as the end of August to adopt the new tax rate.

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